Four volunteer firefighters responding to an intense pre-dawn house fire were shot Monday morning, two fatally, leading to a shootout between a suspect and police in suburban Rochester, NY, police said.

"One or more shooters" fired at the firefighters when they arrived shortly after 5:30AM at the blaze near the Lake Ontario shore, just east of Rochester, Town of Webster Police Chief Gerald Pickering said.

The first Webster police officer who arrived exchanged gunfire with a shooter, Monroe County Sheriff Patrick O'Flynn said. Police would not give details on the whereabouts of a suspect, with O'Flynn saying only there was no active shooter at the scene later Monday morning.

The two wounded firefighters were in critical condition at a Rochester hospital, O'Flynn said.

The West Webster Fire District early Monday received a report of a car and house fire on Lake Road, on a narrow peninsula where Irondequoit Bay meets Lake Ontario, O'Flynn said.

The fire started in one home and spread to three others and a car, officials said. The gunfire initially kept firefighters from battling the blazes, but they eventually did late Monday morning.

The guy set up a trap it was all intentional, people are stupid. Also saw in houston car chase ends in fatal shooting of a cop and bystandard. These must be the people who thought the world would end and are pissed off.

Note to all those out there just kill yourself stop killing innocent people

It's incredibly messed up what some people will do and it's a horrible thing these men fell in the line of duty doing something they volunteer for.

In major cities you'd be surprised some of the things firemen have to face, especially around Detroit. Often drug dealers in meth houses will actually booby trap the place so if it does go up firefighters will spend more time trying to get out and not burn alive than preserving evidence which could land the dealers in jail.

As probably the only one here who can claim they've been a firefighter carrying a gun into a fire would be one of the worst things you could do and something I'd never do. This is coming from someone who has fought fire in a combat zone and yes I had my weapon but it stayed on the truck.